Bowling is to return to Bradley Stoke next season after Bradley Stoke Town Council came to an agreement with a new club.
A former president of Northavon Bowls Club will form Bradley Stoke Bowls Club which will play at Baileys Court.
Northavon Bowls Club were evicted from the green earlier this year and the club was eventually disbanded.
The row got so heated that it made the pages of the local press and featured on regional TV.
But, the new club is set to take to the green following and agreement with the town council landlords.
More to follow on Thursday.
3 responses so far ↓
1 yayayay // Sep 18, 2009 at 11:58 am
That will be good!
2 Old Member // Sep 18, 2009 at 5:39 pm
This is good news, it is long over due and it will be great to get back on the green.
I am sure that there must be some old members that are willing to give it a second chance.
3 James // Sep 19, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I have lived for many years close by Baileys Court.
Not long (a year or two) after the site was up and running my wife and I joined a Bowls Club at Baileys Court. We were then, and still are, outright beginners. All we know about bowls is what we have read in books and learned from friends. We joined because we wanted to take it up and my work allowed me time in the week to have a go.
It was over halfway through a summer when we paid the joining fee of £90.00. We bought the necessary footware and borrowed two sets of bowls from a friend in Surrey. We made four weekday attempts to get to play during the rest of that summer and every time we were told we could not. There was never anyone playing at the time but the reasons given were ‘there is a match starting later’ or “the green is resting”.
To say the people we spoke to there were unhelpful is no exaggeration.
To say the people we spoke there were very much a clique is no exaggeration.
We felt very much that absolute beginners were not welcome (but our money was) One fellow said we should ‘go’ to Thornbury if we were that unhappy (’clear off to’, were the actual words used)
My work took a change of tack and time mid week became unavailable. We have never set foot on the grass there, ever.
However, over the years I have been aware of the rumours that the players there had precious little to do with Bradley Stoke as a place to live and had descended on the facility from afar.
It appears to me that the green has been unused for all of the time (18months?) since the Club was evicted. It’s use by individuals playing alone or in small groups should be allowed for a reasonable membership fee. My friend from Surrey pays just his £125.00 a year and plays most days during midweek as practice (except on matchdays) and pays a small charge at weekends if he is not in a match.
I understand a ‘fee per session per person’ has been the Council’s charging method of late; open to anyone. It’s little wonder I have never seen the green in use if that has been the case. £10.00 per couple? Do the mathematics compared to the Surrey example. Apparently, Clevedon Club have a fee of £115 for the year and less for late joiners. That makes the £90 we were fleeced of more than the rip off it was. Remember, that was fifteen years ago. ‘And Clevedon will loan out equipment to those who are new to the game; something that Baileys Court never did or does……… apparently.
‘And yes, we would still like to learn the game. Time availability is no longer the issue.
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